'And they wither with the wind...'

We went to North Glenmore park this Saturday. It was so beautiful there! It's that time of the year again.

I wonder...

Both my husband and I love to eat. We also love to sleep! So how did we end up with a Kuttipa that doesn't like either? I wonder...

On a different topic - I was driving back this morning after dropping my husband off at his bus stop. The radio wasn't on and Kuttipa was unusually quiet in the backseat leaving me alone with my thoughts. I started thinking about all the fledgling friendships I've made in the recent times and some of the not-so fledgling friendships. Why is it that friendship among women is so complicated? There are layers and layers of feelings and stuff (for the lack of a better word) regardless of how superficial or deep your friendship is...Being friends with a guy is far less complicated (unless there are romantic feelings involved). On the other hand, there is less potential for the deep meaningful emotional connection that is possible among women...Is it worth all the complexity though? I wonder...

Yet another topic - Why is such a big deal being made about the layout changes to Facebook?I thought it actually made things look less cluttered. Is that such a bad thing? I wonder...

At the baby show I attended a couple of weeks ago (Yes, I bought the teething necklace. No, I am not sure how it works yet) I was given a couple of issues of Mompreneur magazine. I'd never read it before or even heard of it. I was flipping through one of the issues and came across an interview with a really inspiring woman - Kim Lavine. She is a woman who has built a successful business with a product that's not very remarkable through sheer hard work and persistence. She has also written a book about it called the Mommy Millionaire. I might read her book one of these days. Meanwhile I'll find inspiration from the following words in her interview

'I tell people in my book that it's easy to be negative in this world; what's hard is being positive. Every successful entrepreneur I've ever met has been optimistic and positive. You need to consciously get up every morning and make the choice to be positive; it's amazing magic that will transform your life.'

A kutti update

Kuttipa has a cold and a fever. With a stuffy nose, its difficult for him to eat or nurse and we keep trying to clear it using saline drops. He hates that of course and any attempts to wipe his nose and clean his face etc. are met with howls. But in general he is cheerful and keeps trying to stand up again and again. Since Saturday, he has been able to stand up by himself without holding onto something for support! So that's the new thing he is trying these days. And its good that he is cheerful because that tells me he is not seriously ill. Now if only I could be as cheerful..

Kozhakattais

Considering that 'Vinayakane Vinay Theerpavane' has somehow led a couple of people to my site, I have to wonder if they were searching for a kozhakattai recipe. The one I used is simple enough and by no means my original creation. I got it from Tarla Dalal's website since I subscribe to her newsletter. Here is a link in case you're looking for it. Having tried it, I assure you it works well.

The first party

Photo taken yesterday at the common birthday party held for all the babies from my prenatal class from last year. They're all turning one year old soon, starting from tomorrow. It was a good party and Kuttipa had a lot of fun scampering on the grass and destroying the cake. He ate quite a bit of it too! The weather was awesome and there was plenty of food and conversation. And there were tons of other babies though I didn't want to post a pic with the other babies. I mean, what if I get sued for loss of privacy or something?
I almost didn't go because my husband hadn't been feeling well for over four days and I was a bit under the weather too. I am glad I did go though!

Hazelwood

Kuttipa is teething, I think. He seems to be having all the classic symptoms and is also incredibly cranky. He has 6 teeth so far and I think the 7th broke ut today although I am not sure about it.
Just over a couple of months ago he had no teeth and I was getting flak about not giving him enough calcium or something (which is not true btw. He had enough calcium. Also, the teeth are already there; they just need to come out. So its unrelated to calcium.)

I am hoping to go to the Calgary Baby Show being held in the Stampede Grounds this weekend and buy him a hazelwood teething necklace. When we went to Golden a couple of months ago, we stayed at a B&B whose owners had an 8 month old daughter. At that time I think Kuttipa was getting his second tooth. The baby there was wearing one of these necklaces and her mom told me that it seemed to be really effective. I tried to buy one there but somehow circumstances intervened. I hope they don't intervene tomorrow and that I do get to buy one. I am really really curious about them..

I tried googling info about them and I saw many sites which promised that hazelwood necklaces were the cure to everything right from teething pains to colic to migraines. I was excited initially and started checking every bulletin board I came across which had a reference to hazelwood necklaces. Then I saw that the same post was being posted by one 'momof3cuties' in a wide range of bulletinboards totuing the benefits of these necklaces and saying how her child's eczema was cured because of them. Er okay, was she so happy with them that she felt the need to spread the word far and wide? Well, it turns out that she owns a company that distributes them but she doesn't really say this when she posts about the benefits of these necklaces! So much for free advertising!

Well, I'll get to see if these things really work I guess... though I'll be fifteen bucks poorer.

A tad depressed

I was in New Haven four years ago, when Dubya was re-elected. I left for Calgary within a couple of weeks of his reelection. The timing was just a coincidence but it felt good nevertheless to tell my republican coworkers that I was leaving the country because I couldn't stand Bush! And I couldn't stand him is the truth.

I cannot believe its been 4 years already so soon! And over these years I've watched Bush f**k up the country and the world repeatedly. Well, that just makes things easy for the Democrats right? Wrong! If people were logical, Bush wouldn't have been re-elected. I wish the average voter in the US knew how much power he had - power that will influence not just his country but will influence events in th entire world! Some voters will probably realize that and will vote 'Democrat' but the rest will just bleat the same old same old and vote Republican. Why is 'evolution vs creation' so much more important than actual people or lives? Why does invading another country make people feel safer? So many questions.

And now there is this woman Palin. I think many women will be voting for her simply because she is a woman! So much for women's lib! If the purpose is to show that men and women are equal, shouldn't Palin be judged as a person and not as a 'woman'?

After such a disastrous rule, will the country still vote Republican? Have they turned into a nation of cows? I hope not, but the possibility is depressing.

Oh and speaking of cows, I found this post amusing. Check it out!

Kuttipa update

Kuttipa has been standing up by grabbing onto things for about a week now. He is becoming increasingly persistent about it - like waking up at 3am and deciding to practice his skills by grabbing onto our sleeping (now awake) bodies and using it to support himself. Its cute when he does that during daytime but not so cute at night...

He has become more temperamental of late. Eating, sleeping, everything is a more difficult than it used to be. But it makes his smiles and laughter that much more precious and adorable.

Vinayakane vinay theerpavane

Today was Vinayaka Chaturthi - one of my favorite festivals from my childhood. What I probably loved best about it were the Kozhakattais or Kaduvus depending on which grandmother I spoke with. My mother's mother made absolutely awesome kozhakattais. Soft and white filled with a delicious coconut-jaggery mixture. I just need to close my eyes and I can almost taste them... ahh..

I do remember trying to help her make the shells from rice flour a couple of times when I was a child but alas, I never did learn her recipe. I didn't learn any of her recipes for that matter and she was such an awesome cook! Now she is confined mostly to her bed and can neither walk nor talk. I could have even asked her for some of her recipes as recently as a couple of years ago when she was able to communicate in bits and pieces. Life is full of such regrets but strangely once the initial pang passes we don't seem to learn much from them. At least, I don't seem to...

A few years ago a friend of mine passed away unexpectedly. She was young and full of life and close to my heart. I kept in touch with her in random intervals when she wrote an email from someplace or another. I always intended to write to her more and maybe call her up 'one of these days'. All of a sudden I got an email from her mother saying that she had passed away after an accident. That was such a shock! I realized that I couldn't take anyone's presence for granted and made an effort to stay in touch with anyone I knew, anyone who mattered.

Its been 6 years since that happened. And I am back to my old ways. I don't call my friends regularly. I don't write regularly. I don't send photos of Kuttipa regularly. Heck, I think a few friends of mine may not even know Kuttipa exists. Sure there are countless reasons - such as my not having enough time or enough sleep. The fact remains that I take their presence for granted. Somehow I think 20 years from now or whenever it is that I find the time, they'll still be around and interested in what I have to say. Have I learned anything?

Somehow this became a morbid post. My original intention was to brag about how well my kozhakattais turned out today. I made both kinds - salted and sweet. On that note, I'll end this post. Good night!

The photos are from Chestermere Lake where we went last Saturday. So, yes, we made it to one of the lakes after all! Our original plan was to go to Eagle Lake in Strathmore. Upon driving there and finding it not very happening (kind of boring actually), we stopped on our way back at this lake. It seemed to be a nice place and it was a nice day too. There was a paved walkway there with people sitting on deck chairs, lounging and looking at the lake. Plenty of seagulls flying around hoping for some of the snacks that people might have brought with them. There were people like us with babies in their strollers, out for a leisurely stroll along the lake. There were people motorboating and jetskiing and getting their thrills from the water.

However, no one was sailing or swimming or kayaking or pedal boating or in any way exerting themselves and their muscles. Oh, and every house we passed by had an RV parked on their driveway.